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“Unpack and then come downstairs,” I smiled and walked out the door.
I went towards Annie’s room and saw her getting her clothes from her bags and folding them in the closet. She was excited and it made me happy. I knocked on the open door.
She looked up at me and smiled. “Hey, Gabe.”
“Is the closet big enough?” I teased her.
“It will be,” she smiled back. “And if not, Aria said I could put my clothes and shoes in her closet.”
I was planning on filling Aria’s closet with everything she wanted so there won’t be any room for Annie’s stuff. But I didn’t want to spoil her mood by telling her that.
“Come downstairs when you finish unpacking,” I said and she nodded.
I went to the kitchen and Nick was already there.
“Something smells amazing,” I said.
“My mom made lasagna,” he smiled brightly.
It was his favorite food.
“Awesome,” I said. “I am so hungry.”
“Have the girls finished unpacking?” he asked and took the plates out of the kitchen cabinet.
“Aria probably is. Annie won’t be for a while,” I said and laughed.
“You got that right,” I heard Aria say behind me.
I turned around and smiled at her. She smiled back and walked up to Nick.
“Do you need any help?” she asked him.
“No,” he smiled brightly at her. “You just sit down and relax.”
I could see she was still careful around us. But she smiled. That was something, right?
She sat at the table and looked up at me. “We need to talk.”
I was tense. “About what?”
I walked to the table and sat opposite her. I looked at Nick and he shrugged.
“About the rent,” she said seriously.
I looked at her confused. Rent? What rent? I looked back at Nick, and he had a surprised and confused look on his face. He walked to us and sat beside her. She flinched slightly and moved away from him a bit. I could tell he was hurt by that.
“What are you talking about?” I finally asked.
“Rent,” she answered. “I can’t live here for free.”
She wanted to pay rent? In her own house. I had millions in my account and half of that was hers and she wanted to pay me to stay here? I felt anger rising, but I reminded myself that she didn’t know that this was hers. Not yet. I took a deep breath and smiled at her.
“There is no need for that,” I said calmly. “I just want to keep you safe until this is over.”
She looked at me confused and slightly irritated. She wanted to say something, but Annie came into the kitchen and interrupted her.
“Hello, my people,” she said happily. “Why such serious faces?”
